User:ExpansiveBag/sandbox

History
In 2019 there were a total of 1,130 gaming companies based in France. In 2002, the explosion of the Internet bubble provoked the end of three of the most prestigious French studios in a few months: Kalisto Entertainment, No Cliché and Lankhor. Between 2003 and 2013, the video game industry in France plunged more than 80% to 240 companies and 4,800 employees, moving from fifth to seventh in the world. Since the crash, companies in the sector struggle to develop beyond a certain size, with the majority of studios focusing on virtual platform development. Based on 2021 revenue estimates, France is the 7th largest video game market with an estimated amount of 38.08 million active consumers. In comparison, the United Kingdom accounts for approximately 37.66 million active consumers and Germany approximately 46.12 million. Despite these economic constraints, in the 2010’s, French studios signed more and more contracts with international producers such as Capcom and Sega. Although French touch is no longer regarded as a guarantee of creativity, many French studios, such as Eugen Systems, Cyanide and Ankama, remain internationally respected developers in the field of simulation.

Revenue
In 2021, the French video game industry generated €5.65 billion in revenue, a record high. Boosted by the COVID-19 Pandemic, video game sales had a sharp increase as people spent more time at home and turned to gaming as an outlet. From €3.6 billion in revenue in 2016, the market grew 40% in five years.

43% of all mobile app downloads in France are categorized as games, accounting for €1.4 billion in revenue. In 2020, 2.4 million consoles were sold and 27.5 million games were sold across physical and digital copies. 43% of games sold were digital, while 57% were physical copies.

Demographics
As of 2021, there are a total of 36.5 million gamers in France, 53% of which are male. The age group of 24-35 year olds are the biggest gamer demographic by age, holding 31.1% of the French gamer population. However, 10-14 year olds in France have the highest percentage of gaming usage compared with other age groups, with over 96% of 10-14 year olds reporting to play video games in 2020.

Developers
Major video game development studios began to establish during the 1990s and 2000s. Several have found popular success and continue to develop today.

Arkane Studios
Arkane Studios was founded in 1999 in the city Lyon by Raphaël Colantonio, a former employee of Electronic Arts. The first video game from Arkane, Arx Fatalis, was released in 2002. Today, Arkane is known for Dishonored, an action-adventure series, along with the 2021 release of Deathloop. Arkane also developed their own video game engine, Void Engine, based on a foundation of id Tech 5 created by id Software.

Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream was founded in 1997 by David Cage. The studio is known for its releases of Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain. The focus of Quantic Dream is to produce narrative based video games in the format of Interactive Drama.

Dontnod Entertainment
Dontnod Entertainment was founded in 2008 and is based in Paris. They are known for developing the graphic adventure series titled Life is Strange. Life is Strange was released episodically throughout 2015. Dontnod entertainment later released the first episode of Life is Strange 2 in September 2018 with the final episode released in December 2019.

Ubisoft
Ubisoft was established in 1986 by Yves Guillemot and his four brothers. Ubisoft initially distributed CD audio media, computers, and additional software to farmers and subsequently shifted to publishing video games. Yves Guillemot has said that Ubisoft has found value in open sandbox games with single and multiplayer modes which is why the company works on online games. Ubisoft's best selling game as of 2022 is Far Cry 5 (2018), grossing more than 300 million USD in the first week of release.

Gameloft
Gameloft was founded by Michael Guillemot, a brother of Yves Guillemot, in 1999 after seeing the potential of the emerging market of mobile games.

Focus Entertainment
Focus Entertainment was founded in 1996 and formerly Focus Home Entertainment. The publisher’s most notable games are Farming Simulator, Pro Cycling Manager, and Trackmania.

The National School of Play and Interactive Digital Media
The National School of Play and Interactive Digital Media (French: École Nationale du Jeu et des Médias Interactifs Numériques) (ENJMIN) is a public school located in Angoulême devoted to video games and more generally to interactive digital media. It is the only public school in Europe that trains video games.

LISAA - School of Design
LISAA School of Art & Design (L'Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués) was founded in 1986 by Michel Glize. The LISSA School of Animation and Video Game offers several courses for video game design at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels of study. The school is based in Paris with other campuses located in Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nantes, and Rennes. International campuses are located in India and China.

ISART Paris
ISART Digital was founded in 2001 with main campuses based in France and Montreal. ISART Digital offers education in video games as well as 3D visual effects. The school implements a weekly rotating schedule with in-class instruction and industry experience at a workplace.

Government Intervention
In 2016, Axelle Lemaire met with representatives of the french video game industry to discuss possible measures to combat sexism in video games. Financial incentives and labels to distinguish games that had a positive image of women were proposed but later dismissed.